TiPb Asks: How do you check the weather or your iPhone or iPad?

How do you check the weather on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad? On the iPhone and iPod touch you have the built in, Yahoo! powered Weather app and while it's relatively simple and quick it doesn't provide a lot of information. The iPad doesn't even come with a built in weather app, so finding something you like in the App Store or bookmarking a website are your only options.

If you use an App Store app or website, which one(s) do you use? Do you prefer quick, current, high level info or do you like all the bells and whistles, like radar, hour-by-hour forecasts, and lots of indexes? Do you want a lot of animation or eye candy, or just the facts?

GeorgiaSenior Editor at iMore and a practicing therapist specializing in stress and anxiety. She speaks everywhere from conferences to corporations, co-host of Vector, Review, and Isometric podcasts, and should be followed on Twitter @Georgia_Dow.

I have tried at least 5-10 weather apps before and switch rather frequently. I have come down to just a few that I really use on a consistant basis: Pocket Weather World, Pocket Weather, and Fahrenheit. Each of these support temperature icon badges on the home screen. Contrary to what most bloggers/reviewers have written, Fahrenheit(and Celcius) was not the first app to provide updatable badges. It is pretty much a requirement for me that an app support badges as I don't always want or need to have to open the app just to see the temp.

Weather Channel app.
NOBODY BETTER RECOMMEND WEATHER HD! It looks good but always the wrong weather. Completely wrong weather. I want to smack all the people that used it once and reviewed it without looking outside to compare the weather.

Weather Plugin for LockInfo (which uses the Yahoo-powered Apple Weather App's data) as well as WeatherIcon which transforms my weather app's icon into live information. If I ever need more detailed infos, I open up WeatherPro.

I have Fahrenheit for the current temp badge, but use WeatherBug for the full forecasts. WeatherBug is the most accurate for me, and I prefer the full text description of the forecast. All the other apps just give you numbers and silly icons. If it's going to snow, I want to know how many inches, etc.

On the iPhone i use the lockinfo plugin for quick weather updates, for more in depth info, I use The Weather Channel on my iPad and iPhone. Friends of mine in weather depended industries swear by wunderground but I find The Weather Channels, notifications and UI more pleasing to my eye.

I have a LOT of weather apps on my iPhone/iPad - you name it, it's probably installed. However, since the weather forecast in the Pacific NW for more than 12 hours in advance is rarely reliable, the one app I find myself using far and away the most:
"Don't Look Outside" - seems to be as accurate as any others, very fast loading and does have a lot of additional information available.

I'm in Australia and I use Pocket Weather. Cost me $2.50 years ago and have used it at least daily ever since. Uses official Australian Government weather data, unlike the standard iPhone app, which uses some other unreliable service. It has bright animated icons, a variety of different looks (which you can shake to change!). It also pushes the day's top temperature (or the current temperature if you prefer) as a red alert notification on the app icon, which i love. I wish I could delete or at least hide the default weather app!

I use the Weather Underground ical feed. Subscribe to the calendar and I now have weather info on my iPhone and iPad right in my calendar. Usually, if I am checking the weather it's because I am seeing how it will effect my plans that are also in my calendar. Works great, and is simple and fast since there is no loading at all. Just always there when you open the calendar up. If I really need hourly, I check Weather channel - but i would love an ical feed that updated with CURRENT weather. But that would probably kill the battery from updating so often?

I just use the built in Yahoo app -- when I use it, because it is quite limited. I have a bookmark in Safari to the local Doppler Radar's mobile page and use that when I need to know whats going on rain wise.
I wish the installed app would update the icon like Calendar does with the current weather/temp.

I'm always out on my bicycle and am therefore obsessed with the weather.
I've spent lots of money on weather apps the past few years and still haven't found one I really like.
I now use a web browser app that shows two pages side by side (forgot the name). In one window, I have the wunderground iphone-formatted forecast (best for current conditions and next day forecast) and in the other I have the MRF MOS 8-day text bulletin from the national (US) weather service for the long term forecast.
There is one weather app I like, called "todays weather" that shows a temp vs time graph with today's forecast superimposed with yesterday's data. Useful for deciding what to wear since it compares to what it was like yesterday at the same time. They also do an iPad version.
Also, my iPhone is jailbroken, so I have the handy weather icon tweak that shows current conditions right on the home screen. The icon is assigned to open the browser app mentioned above.

I forget about using any app's, I do use the basic apple weather app and use it to compare the weather in the few national and international locations that I either travel to or communicate with (to prepare for them whining about how cold or wet it is).
For accuracy it's not really accurate for my local weather or temperature, they take the reading a few miles away but the difference in temperature there and where I am located is huge, we can be as much as 30 degrees hotter compared to the readings from that location, but the problem is the same across all the apps.

SHINE! Weather app is awful and TWC is too slow. Shine combines the smooth UI of Weather with the hourly details of TWC. No radar but I don't check the radar that often anyway. Just need to know the temperature and if it's going to rain.

depends on the circumstances: for current data i look to My-Cast. i use the national weather service or weather underground sites if i'm looking for a 2-5 day outlook. during severe weather i use Radarscope to keep tabs on the radar and warned areas, and in life-threatening situations (i.e. tornado warning) i use 5-0 radio to listen to the local amateur radio repeater. the hams are bar-none the quickest source of info in an emergency. 5-0 also runs in the background (via safari) so i can continue to use other apps or tweet while i'm listening.

I used the built in weather app to just find out the temperature, but was quite disappointed by its lack of other information. I switched from my Blackberry when I purchased my iPhone 4, so I was accustomed to having Weatherbug on that.
Now for Radar and such I just use Nashville's Newschannel5 app, though it lags a bit and it's not a standalone weather app.

Weatherbug FTW! It's the only one (at least that I can find) that actually gives me a narrative forecast - you know, with words and everything. The alternatives (most of which provide nothing more than sun/cloud/rain icons and a temperature forecast) just don't cut it.

I use the built-in Weather app quite frequently - it works well.
I only have ONE COMPLAINT. When I click on the Y! icon to get the 10 day forecast it always prompts me to make Yahoo search the default search. VERY ANNOYING. But it is not Apple's fault, it is Yahoo's fault.

Other than simply looking out the window or listening to NOAA's weather channel on my shortwave, I usually use either the stock app or my local newspaper's weather section online, which tends to be much more detailed and accurate.

Weather Eye
It's not the greatest...but it's the only app (in Canada) that offerers up weather watches & warnings. For anyone who ever left the house and hit a highway duing an ice storm...this is an essential feature.

I use Weatherbug Elite. It gives me great local information instead of information from some major airport or large city that is 50 to 100 miles away. It has a lot of useful tools for the contractor on the go with multiple crews in different locations, where the weather may not be exactly the same. I've used it for a number od years and it was one of the first apps I downloaded on my new iPhone.

I use Fahrenheit because in Southern California it always looks the same out the window but the temp changes by 20 degrees every couple of days so I like having the estimated current temp in the icon badge at a glance. I came from Blackberry and I had a great weather app called BerryWeather that acted more like a widget and the icon would update with the current weather. That is one of the few things I miss since switching from BB.

I'm a pilot on a business jet and the weather app I use for aviation weather is AeroWeather (free).
To get temperature for stations even two or three days in advance I use WeatherBug (free), and My Radar is a great current radar and temperature app (free). I have yet to try any weather apps that are not free because the apps I use are sufficient.

AccuWeather is my preference. Also have TWC, Weather+ and MyWeather on the iPhone but AccuWeather is the one I use every day. Has all the features I cam looking for. The native Weather app is relegated to an ANU ("Apps Not Used") folder on the last app screen (since I can't delete it).

No iPhone yet. Currently blackberry, can go iPhone in July. I have told my son who writes apps that an app that emulates berry weather would be a huge seller. I am a weather nut and will really miss berry weather. Active alerts, the ability to choose your weather station of choice and all the customizations make it the most functional weather program I have seen. I have tried a ton of iPad weather apps and none measure up to berry weather. I use NOAA website on my iPad for local detailed information and seven day forecast. I also use imap weather for radar. They provide a huge radar screen that looks and works great.

Wx Alert USA. Gives me audible alerts to whatever I want. That way I dont get caught in a bad storm while on the boat. Awesome radar screen too. I've tried a lot and this one has them beat with customization

I really like Weather HD... if nothing else, I keep it running as a default app both on my iPhone 4 and iPad 2. While in my care I have my iPhone 4 mounted on a Kensington car holder and have Weather HD running while waiting for my hands-free device to pick up on my calls.

The problem with weather on the iPhone and iPad is that it has to be in an app. Weather for me is something I would like to check quickly like checking the time. Could you imagine launching an app on your watch and waiting for it to load just so you could note the time? I have lots of weather apps but I rarely use them because I have to pull up a folder, launch the app and wait for it to load. Yeah, we are talking about seconds, but I've come to realize how distracting these kinds of little activities are to what I am doing at the time.

I love weather apps. Right now on my home screen I have Fahrenheit, which is unique in that it has a badge showing the current temp, so I don't even have to open it to keep track of the temp. Also on the home screen is Umbrella, set to send me a pop-up at 5AM if I need to take my umbrella. Seems very accurate. Also on the home screen is Florida Radars for a quick, local check.
On the second screen I have a Weather folder containing Fizz Weather (best for comparing several locations, needed for shipping reptiles), AccuWeather, WeatherFix, Outside, Souteast US, Rain or Shine, Weather HD, Weather and Wehr Doodle (new- checking it out). I also have a folder called Storms/Radar containing Radar, TropSats, Hurricane, Wx Alert USA and RadarUS, which is my favorite dedicated radar app. When hurrican season gets here I generally trade Hurricane onto the home screen.
I had to clear out a bunch of apps because I was running out of memory (32 GB, imagine that!) and several lesser weather apps didn't make the cut. Still- it's hard to resist a shiney new one!!

My-Cast for moving radar and quick forecasts. WX Alert USA for better info right from NWS, especially the long discussion which is particularly useful when winter weather is approaching. All the weather apps get their info from the same place anyway - it's just how it is presented.

WeatherIcon for the weather at a glance[1]. Separate app for more details. Had Yr.no for a long time, but the recently released SMHI-app seems promising.[2]
[1] http://code.google.com/p/weathericon (Jailbreak-app.) Changes the icon of your preferred weather-app (stock or custom) into an icon showing the actual weather. Weather icon can also be shown in statusbar.
[2] Yr.no and SMHI mainly of interest for Scandinavian users.